Izzet League
The Izzet are obsessive experimenters, the epitome of a keen creative intellect combined with an unfortunately short attention span. The original mandate of the Izzet guild was to provide solutions for public works projects (sewers, boilers, roadways), but their experiments often produce mana geysers, spatial rifts, or arcane portals instead. As of late, their guild leader, Niv-Mizzet, has driven the Izzet to delve deeper and deeper into more dangerous and experimental magic. The purpose of these experiments is unknown. Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind Niv-Mizzet is the original parun of the Izzet League. He's a 15,000-year-old, vain, temperamental, and super-intelligent dragon. Niv-Mizzet has always been known for his unpredictability, vanity, and fiery temper, and these traits have only become more intense. Niv-Mizzet rarely stoops to concern himself with the day-to-day running of the guild, preferring to craft long-range plans and let his underlings implement the details. The servants of Niv-Mizzet who make up his personal court are referred to as the Izmundi. Niv-Mizzet uses this court to guide his machinations and to keep him abreast of the happenings in the wider world. The Izmagnus are the most powerful members of the Izmundi court, which typically has five to seven members (some members are kept secret). Even members of the Izmagnus are not privy to Niv-Mizzet's highest-level plans and goals. Izzet Locations Nivix, Aerie of the Firemind Nivix, also known as the "Aerie of the Firemind," is the home of Niv-Mizzet and the central guildhall of the Izzet. Nivix is a massive tower, one of the tallest in Ravnica. Every level houses Izzet alchemists, mages, and sages who are constantly theorizing, experimenting, and tossing miscalculated experiments across rooms. The very top of the tower is the aerie of Niv-Mizzet himself. Every Izzet who lives and works in Nivix has been hand chosen by Niv-Mizzet. Although none of the experimentations in Nivix seem connected, the great dragon treats them all as if they were part of one grand experiment. The Blistercoils The Blistercoils appear to be a series of gigantic water wheels, which many assume are used to generate power in some way. In actuality, the interior structure of these wheels are actually made up of mizzium coils that generate copious, and volatile, amounts of mana. The Blistercoils is a recently constructed structure; its purpose (beyond generating dangerous amounts of mana) is unknown. Boilerpits The Boilerpits are a series of underground passageways formed by intertwined high-pressure metal pipelines. This twisted maze is so labyrinthine that very few besides the heat-hardy steam goblins can actually navigate them. The Izzet have been criticized in the past for using these tunnels to perform grand (and quite risky) experiments. Mizzium Foundry The Mizzium Foundry is the only place on Ravnica where the mizzium alloy is smelted. Mizzium is used for many Izzet inventions, and the foundry is protected by the savage flamethrower-wielding viashino. The heat within the foundry is stifling to most other races, but the viashino feel quite at home in this hot and humid environment. Izzet Roles Chemisters The chemisters are alchemists who forge mizzium and other elements into arcane tools. They experiment with new alloys, energies, and runic markings. The chemisters are highly competitive, which often leads to spirited rivalries and petty in-fighting. Blastseekers Blastseekers are mages who wield and control the arcane tools devised by the chemisters. These tools are not always physical devices or artifacts; sometimes the blastseekers manipulate orbs of elemental energy that float in mutual orbits, crackling concentric disks of power, or streams of lava-bubbling water. Attendants Izzet blastseekers and chemisters might have up to forty attendants, most of whom are vedalken, due to their natural focus and organizational skills. An attendant's duties usually include recording and organizing information (often under dangerous circumstances), acquiring rare items or elements (usually under dangerous circumstances), or completing experiments (always under dangerous circumstances). Weirds Weirds are the product of yet another Izzet experiment whose goal was to combine two opposing elemental types (e.g., fire/ice, smoke/lightning, or steam/stone). Izzet mages hoped that these contradictory combinations might create elementals that were more stable and easier to control, but, of course, true to form for Izzet experimentation, the actual outcome was the exact opposite. Weirds are even wilder and more unpredictable than elementals of their component elements. However, weirds can make potent guardian creatures or fighting familiars. The Interlocus. Niv-Mizzet keeps information compartmentalized among the members of his guild. In his head, he keeps various experiments, research projects, and elemental explorations organized so he is the only one who perceives the way all of them intersect. As he receives the results from one line of experimentation, however chaotic its methods, he then orders a new line of experimentation on a seemingly unrelated topic. Niv-Mizzet demands to know the outcome of every concoction and elemental inquiry; even what might appears to be a failed experiment might later prove to be a key ingredient to Niv-Mizzet's larger plans. Most believe him to be a batty, information-obsessed old dragon, but secretly, Niv-Mizzet is conducting a scattered, grand meta-project he calls the Interlocus. The purpose of the Interlocus—and indeed, its existence at all—is difficult to detect, as the sheer range and number of experiments that feed into it would fail to suggest any kind of pattern to most observers. But to the Firemind, all these lines of research help him get closer to answering the metaphysical riddles that perplex him. Izzet Attitudes Toward Other Guilds Azorius: "The Azorius freely create rules for everything but freedom." Boros: "Every time I'm on the verge of creating a little explosion that levels a city block, or a spell that rips a hole in reality and space time, the Boros show up to spoil the fun." Dimir: "The less we see of the Dimir, the more we know they monitor us." Golgari: "They are as bottomless as death. If you follow an ant long enough you will find its nest, but the nest is only the tiniest hint of the colony that lies below." Gruul: "Thanks to the Gruul we no longer have to wait for natural disasters to have our laboratories destroyed. We rely on our careful protections from them, or else they would destroy all that we would hope to create." Orzhov: "Progress means taking risks. But when you gamble with the Orzhov, you always wager more than coin." Rakdos: "Steer clear of these senseless riot-fiends. The Rakdos are like a party to which all of your body parts might not be invited." Selesnya: "Selesnyan zealots run with dogs and worship figments of the past. They would be wiser to embrace the wonders of the future." Simic: "I can admire the inventiveness of the Simic, but the product of what they create lacks soul and fire. They feign to tinker with life, yet they lack the inspiration to breathe true life into their inventions."